2022 marks a turning point for the manufacturer and renter of river boats Les Canalous. Indeed, this family company based in Digoin on the banks of the Canal du Centre celebrates its 60 years of activity (but not so much for the shipyard part). It is also the occasion to show its revival, because this one underwent an important fire in October 2020 which completely destroyed half of the installations of the shipyard.
A boat production site in Burgundy
The CPC (Construction Polyester du Centre) boat production site builds units intended exclusively for river navigation. We know the famous Tarpon (4 models from 32 to 49 feet), but also the more prestigious units with the Péniche range. On a second line, the shipyard also produces river dwellings such as cabins or huts with a roof made of an upturned boat hull (Rêve de Robinson).
The constructions are made of polyester in contact (monolithic for the living works and foam sandwich for the rest of the hull and the superstructures). Contrary to the nautical industry, this construction does not seek to gain on the weight estimate, but rather to create large samples of parts to support the shocks. A large place is left to the carpentry, historical know-how of the managing family (the grandfather was a carpenter).
Loss of archives and templates
It was the assembly part that burned down (a different building from the polyester workshop). In this disaster the shipyard lost a large part of its archives, its templates and even a hull mold. The 2Meuros invested in the reconstruction allowed the shipyard to reopen one year later with a production rhythm now back to normal. Depending on the size of the units in production, the yard produces between 10 and 14 boats per year with 12 people. This activity should develop and the shipyard is actively looking for 3 people (a polyester specialist and 2 carpenters).
3 pillars for innovation
Always focused on innovation, the company Les Canalous, which markets part of the units produced by the CPC shipyard, relies on 3 pillars for their developments:
- the environment (work on cleaner propulsion such as electricity and hydrogen)
- digital (connection of the boats for the follow-up of the use by the tenants and the maintenance)
- customer experience (training of tenants before and during navigation via accessible videos).
